How to Crystallize a Swarovski Heart on Converse Trainers

What you will need:

1.Swarovski flatback Crystals NON-HOTFIX:Clear Crystal size ss12 (3.2mm), I also used a range of smaller sized crystals to fill in the gaps, Golden Shadow ss9 (2.6mm) and smaller sizes for filling in the gaps. The Converse Crystallized is an Infants size 8. View Swarovski Flatback Crystals

2.Magic Pick: This is a plastic wand with a sticky bud one side and pointed end the other, it makes picking up flatbacks very simple. View Magic Pick

3.Sand Paper / Emery board: You will either require a small piece of fine sandpaper or an emery board.

4.e6000 adhesive: This is an industrial strength craft adhesive that’s very strong, flexible, waterproof and clear in colour. It should be used in a well ventilated area with a mask for protection from the harmful fumes. View e6000 glue

5.Piece of cotton cloth / hanky: Cotton is ideal because it doesn’t leave fibres behind when you wipe a surface.

6.Orange stick: Small wooden stick used for pushing back cuticles.

7.Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol): Used for degreasing a surface by removing any traces of oil and grease and dries very quickly.

8.Converse boots / trainers / shoes: To add the crystals to.

9.Sharp Pencil: A Sharp Pencil or leaded Pen for drawing The Heart.

10.Gold Permanent Marker: To Colour the Heart.

11.Scissors: Scissors to cut out the heart template.

Prep The Surface: Give the toe a gentle rub down with sandpaper or an emery board, to lightly scratch the surface. This gives the e6000 a better surface for bonding with.

De Grease and Remove any Dirt: Using some rubbing alcohol give the toe a rub down to remove any grease or dust caused by the sanding. If you don’t have rubbing alcohol you can use surgical spirit (Just don’t buy the one with castor oil ;))

Cut Out And Position The Heart: For this tutorial I printed out a heart template onto paper and cut it out using a sharp scissors. The heart template can be found in the link below (Just print and trim to the size that best fits your Converse toe) or you can create your own. Position the heart as in the image above with a Gap at the top of the heart to place a row of ss12 crystals along the top edge of the toe.

Draw The Heart: Using the heart template and a sharp pencil lightly draw the heart shape onto the Converse toe. Once you have the heart colour it in with the Gold Marker.

Prepare The Crystals: Lay out your crystals on a clean flat surface with the faceted face up ready for use. For the heart in this Tutorial for a size 8 Infants Converse we used a variety of different size Golden Shadow, Swarovski Flatback Non Hotfix Crystals 2058 to crystallize the heart.

Add Adhesive To Heart: Using the back plastic end of the pick or an orange stick add a small amount of adhesive to the Heart. Don’t apply the adhesive too thickly. BE AWARE E6000 has nasty fumes so use in a well ventilated area or wear a protective mask with cartridges for filtering out harmful particles.

Add Crystal To Heart: Pick up the crystal with the magic pick and place onto the adhesive as above, once the crystal is in place use the back of the pick or an orange stick to push down the crystal firmly into the adhesive. ss9 Crystals are used for the first row.

Continue Crystallizing Heart: Complete the line of crystals around the inside edge of the heart, if you are lucky then you will only need one crystal size. If not use a smaller size crystal to close the gap.

2nd Row of Crystals: Add some adhesive then start adding crystals to form a second row of crystals inside of the heart.

Finished Crystal Heart: Continue adding crystals until the heart has been filled, to get a nice tight fit you will need a variety of sizes. If there are small gaps it won’t matter as the heart has a gold backing. If you intend to use just one crystal size you can use ultra fine glitter to fill in any gaps gemtac glue is easier to use as it stays tacky for longer than e6000.

Crystallize Toe: Using the back of the magic pick or an orange stick add a small amount of e6000 adhesive to the top corner of the Converse toe, then pick up a crystal with the magic pick and start forming a line of crystals along the edge of the toe.

Complete Outer Row of Crystals: Continue adding crystals until you reach the end of the row if the ss12 crystal doesn’t fit use a smaller size crystal ss9 to finish the row or space out the ss12 crystals.

Top Row of Crystals: Add some adhesive using the orange stick or pick along the top edge of the toe and then start adding crystals.

2nd Row of ss12 Crystals: Starting from the top left or right corner start a second row of crystals inside the outer row adding a few crystals at a time. If you apply too much adhesive at one time then the glue will likely have hardened before you get to the end, so enough glue for a few crystals at a time is good.

Continue Adding Rows of Crystals: Continue adding crystals row by row leaving a gap between the rows and heart to be filled in later.

Continue Adding Rows of Crystals: Continue adding crystals row by row leaving a gap between the rows and heart to be filled in later. As you get to the top it may be necessary to use a smaller crystal here and there to fill in any gaps.

Fill in the Gap: You will need a variety of crystal sizes to fill the gap around the heart. You will get a tighter fit by placing the crystals into the gap without using any adhesive once you have decided on the best fit remove the crystals, (keeping note of their position) glue the area and then add the crystals.

If you find this tutorial useful please give us a like or share with others as these tutorials take a long time to put together and getting people to see them or getting feedback makes creating them worth while. Many Thanks.

Hi Marie
I haven’t used a glue gun apologies, but I understand that you have wide range of glue choices you can use with the gun so I’m sure there will be an adhesive that can be used. However when there are tried and tested methods that will likely be cheaper I’m not really sure that using a glue gun would be advantageous over E6000 or gemtac.